South Australia will enter its opening Sheffield Shield clash without Callum Ferguson and Shaun Tait but still believes it has the talent and belief to beat Tasmania at Adelaide Oval this week.
The Redbacks made the transformation from easybeats to contenders last season, finishing third in both four-day cricket and the Ford Ranger Cup.
Their batting always looks stronger with Ferguson in the middle order but Michael Klinger and Daniel Harris showed last year they can consistently make big scores while Mark Cosgrove and Tom Cooper will be keen to have an immediate impact this season.
The bowling attack, once heavily reliant on Tait, had plenty of success without the tearaway quick last summer.
Tall paceman Peter George is a player on the rise, Mark Cleary is still a mighty competitor while Aaron O'Brien's handy contributions with the bat and ball will be vital in this clash. Chris Duval, who played for Tasmania last year, also adds some depth to the bowling.
There's a certain familiarity about the squad and it's this bunch of players coach Mark Sorell is hoping will see the side move forward in 2009-10.
"It's a very similar group to last year in our first Shield side so that's good for us, a good mix of younger guys coming into our system," he said.
"Tom Cooper has spent some time with the Centre of Excellence program and he has come back in fantastic form, Peter George is a bit the same, continued to play really well, he's been involved in that system."
"Jake Haberfield has performed well with us, a lot of guys have continued with what they finished off with last year which is pleasing."
Sorell also said the players had greater expectations for the summer ahead.
"Although it's a new season, tough comp, we can't rest on what happened last year," Sorell said.
"Guys know when they do what they need to do in a game they can be successful so that's a big difference for us, it's a maturing of our players in the way they go about their cricket."
"We need to keep staying calm and know there is going to be some tough days in cricket because it's a tough competition but we just need to stay patient and calm."
Tasmania is also hungry for some early success after finishing fourth last year.
Captain George Bailey said the team had completed a longer pre-season than normal and had some positive performances during its recent three-week tour in Queensland and New South Wales.
"We sort of thought at the end of last year that we probably needed to be fitter, just with the longevity of the season and being able to maintain your performance over the length of the season - not just starting strong and sort of petering out at the end," Bailey said.
"A few guys in the team felt they were pretty unsatisfied with how they went last year, so there was that real hunger to improve their game which sort of led to a few guys starting a bit earlier."
Tasmania has two significant inclusions for this clash, starting on Tuesday, with Brady Jones coming in to replace wicketkeeper Tim Paine.
"He's a young kid who we haven't seen a great deal of at this level but he was really impressive on the preseason tour," Bailey said.
"He showed he was more than capable behind the stumps and up to the stumps and he's also a pretty attacking, clean striker of the cricket ball."
"He also provides great energy for a young fella who's really vocal around the team and fits in well."
Former Blues batsman Ed Cowan also adds depth to the batting line-up.
"I think he'll really benefit from having that stability at the top of the order which he probably hasn't had at New South Wales, he's probably been in and out a bit, so we are really hoping he can nail that down and become a long standing face in the Tassie team," Bailey said.